Sir Alex Ferguson showed rare sympathy for Arsène Wenger yesterday following Arsenal's disastrous run of form. The London club's season has imploded since the 4-0 FA Cup fifth-round loss at Old Trafford in February and a further defeat there tomorrow in the league would snuff out their flickering title hopes.

Ferguson and Wenger have a long-standing and at times bitter rivalry but United's manager showed compassion for his Arsenal counterpart as he reflected on a sequence which has seen Wenger's side drop from the top of the Premier League and go out of Europe.

"They lost [Abou] Diaby for a while, they lost Denilson, they've lost [Tomas] Rosicky, they lost [Robin] Van Persie. And I'm telling you, you can't win games consistently without your best team - not at the level we're at," he said.

"It makes it difficult for them if we beat them, no question. It's difficult anyway because, six points behind us and three behind Chelsea with five games to go, there's not a lot of leeway."

Ferguson feels United will be forced to overcome the meddling of television schedulers, as well as the challenges posed by Chelsea, Barcelona and maybe even Liverpool, if they are to achieve their domestic and European ambitions. He fears his team's campaign may rest on the outcome of three titanic fixtures in the space of a week this month.

Victory over Arsenal tomorrow would go some way to taking the sting out of the visit to Stamford Bridge for a potential title decider against Chelsea on April 26, a fixture causing Ferguson concern because of the 12.45pm kick-off. That is less than 65 hours after United's Champions League semi-final first leg against Barcelona finishes at the Camp Nou.

The fixture has been brought forward from 3pm to be screened live by Sky Sports and Chelsea will go into the match having met Liverpool in their European tie at Anfield 24 hours earlier than United's game in Spain and also have the benefit of their second leg being played a day later than United's return against Barcelona.

"We would prefer a better kick-off time for the Chelsea game but we tried that last year and it was refused so there is no point going down that route again," Ferguson said. "You have to accept it because television has the dominant say in these matters. We tried to change it last season when we had played in Milan on the Wednesday and faced a lunchtime kick-off at Manchester City on the Saturday.

"This time we are in Barcelona and have to return to London and it makes it more difficult with the game being in London rather than Manchester. We're looking at flying back to London; we're looking at various things."

Chelsea's manager, Avram Grant, has complained about playing Wigan on Monday before facing Everton at Goodison Park three days later, both games having been moved for television, but Ferguson claims the fixture changes suit Chelsea.

"Chelsea get a good rest before their game against Wigan and then, three days later, they've got Everton away and a five-day break before they play Liverpool. They then have a four-day break before they play us in the league game. Our schedule is a bit more congested."

Ferguson, meanwhile, is unlikely to have been pleased with yesterday's news that Lionel Messi, Barcelona's inspirational forward, is back from injury ahead of schedule. He was thought to be a doubt for the first leg against United but has been included in the squad for tonight's game against Recreativo.